GIRLS' BASKETBALL: Edwardsville has “to prove a point”

Tigers must wait to learn their first regional opponent

Edwardsville girls’ basketball players listen to coach Lori Blade before the start of a regular season game against Normal Community.

Edwardsville girls’ basketball players listen to coach Lori Blade before the start of a regular season game against Normal Community.

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Edwardsville girls’ basketball players listen to coach Lori Blade before the start of a regular season game against Normal Community.

Edwardsville girls’ basketball players listen to coach Lori Blade before the start of a regular season game against Normal Community.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL: Edwardsville has “to prove a point”

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The postseason begins Tuesday for the state’s third-ranked Edwardsville Tigers, and they plan on it lasting through the month and into early March.

“We have to go. We have to prove a point,” Edwardsville senior Criste’on Waters said. “Everybody thought last year was going to be our year and we did too. This year, we have to really get after it.”

Edwardsville, which lost by two points in last year’s Class 4A state quarterfinals, opens the postseason as the top seed in Sub-Sectional B of Normal Community.

The Tigers will be in the Collinsville Regional.

“We are glad we didn’t get put in Springfield,” EHS guard Makenzie Silvey said, referring to the other regional site. “We’ll hopefully be able to have fans come out and support us in Collinsville.”

Edwardsville will face the winner of seventh-seeded Collinsville and eighth-seeded East St. Louis at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Collinsville.

The Tigers (26-0) own three wins against East St. Louis (10-10) and two against Collinsville (13-10) this season.

East St. Louis and Collinsville will play at 6 p.m. Monday.

In the other semifinal, fourth-seeded Belleville East will meet the winner of sixth-seeded Belleville West and 10th-seeded Granite City at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday.

The winner from Collinsville will meet the winner from Springfield in the Normal Community Sectional semifinal. The other side of the sectional includes Rock Island, which is ranked second in the state and features sophomore sensation Brea Beal.

EHS has won 13 straight regional titles with 11 sectional championships during that span.

Teams will be gunning to end Edwardsville’s reign as the top team south of Chicago.

“We toughened up the schedule a bit and they responded really well. They are tested,” Edwardsville coach Lori Blade said. “It’s just a matter of how it’s all going to play out.”

Edwardsville’s starting lineup features two 1,000-point scorers and two on the cusp of joining the club.

Silvey is second in the program in scoring, and she’s averaging a team-high 16.1 points in her final season. She has 56 3-pointers.

Junior forward Rachel Pranger eclipsed 1,000 points in the first game of the season and is sixth in the program with 1,363 points. She’s third on the team in scoring, averaging 14 points.

Junior guard Kate Martin is 57 points away from 1,000 for her career. She’s second in scoring this season at 14.1 points and has 30 treys.

Then there’s Waters, who has 983 career points. She’s averaging 7.5 points this season, fourth on the team.

There’s a good chance Edwardsville could have four 1,000-point scorers by the sectional championship game, assuming it opens the postseason with three wins.

But, nothing is a given.

“I’m very realistic. I’ve been in this long enough to know that anything can happen,” Blade said. “I will say that I like this group. I like how their chemistry is. I like their mentality and work ethic right now. It’s really good.”

The Tigers averaged wins by 32 points, and it was their third undefeated season in five years.

Edwardsville won the Southwestern Conference by four games. It was the eighth straight league title.

None of that matters come Tuesday when the Tigers take the court at Collinsville’s Vergil Fletcher Gymnasium.

“We try to approach every game like it’s postseason,” Waters said. “If you don’t, you kind of lose the game mentally. You are always looking to get better.”

Now it comes down to which team is best after 32 minutes.

“We know that every game could be our last, but we just have to stay focused,” Silvey said. “We will just have to go out and play our hardest.”